Hester Peirce, SEC Commissioner, believes industry players need to remember what crypto is really about. She gave 2022 as an example of a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year for the industry.
Peirce said there are valuable takeaways from the problems that arose in 2022. She explained that underlying these lessons is the truth that technology takes time to develop. It often must combine with innovative developments in other fields to realize its full potential. The commissioner said the industry must always keep in mind that crypto is not about driving the prices up and dumping tokens to someone else. Peirce highlighted that the industry must acknowledge that the underlying technology is about solving a trust problem and how people can interact and transact with people they don’t know.
People have traditionally looked to centralized intermediaries or governments to solve this problem. But new technology like blockchain, cryptography, and zero-knowledge proofs offer new solutions. Peirce urged people who believe in crypto’s future to not wait for regulators to fix problems. They should actively stamp out harmful practices and encourage good behavior within the industry. The commissioner believes that it is up to people within the industry to develop crypto’s value.
Peirce said crypto’s value proposition depends on the builders of this technology and not on the regulators.
